These are all the remaining Doctor Doom appearances that don’t warrant a complete review.
STRANGE TALES #167 (1968)
by Jim Steranko
Doom appears in the crazy finale of a long-running storyline during the legendarily fantastic Steranko run.
Only at the very end we are treated with a double splash page of gorgeous Steranko art where we discover that villain Yellow Claw, who has been tormenting S.H.I.E.L.D., was actually controlled by a robot playing chess with Doom!!!
The robot, called the Prime Mover, has a couple more appearances.
This is a notable cameo because it comes out of absolutely nowhere while still making sense within the story, plus Doom technically loses to the Prime Mover but he’s actually a good sport about it.
AVENGERS #118 (1973)
Steve Englehart & Bob Brown
One of the “blink and you’ll miss it” cameos. During the epic and actually kind of cool fight between the Avengers and the Defenders, the Dark Dimension is fusing with Earth’s dimension causing all sorts of hijinks. Doom strikes a pose in his only panel:
MASTER OF KUNG-FU #59-60 (1977-1978)
by Doug Moench & Mike Zeck
This is a great storyline in a series that isn’t as well-known as it deserves.
The entire story is way too long for a full review, however at the end of issue 59 we find out that the villains that have been attacking martial artist hero Shang Chi were actually robots.
And at the very last page we discover that Doctor Doom is behind everything.
Doom is on the cover of issue 60 (drawn by Ernie Chan).
The story involves Shang-Chi fighting more robots and this goofy henchman:
Doom does actually interact with Shang-Chi.
Doom has been tormenting Shang-Chi out of boredom, because he’s actually after Fu Manchu, a.k.a. Shang-Chi’s father.
More robot action. And hey, the goofy henchman was a robot after all!
Shang-Chi then fights Doom himself…
…or rather his Doombot.
Shang-Chi barely makes it out alive of Doom’s traps, and the doctor trolls him by sending THIS to the hospital where Shang-Chi is treated for his wounds.
I’m not sure if Doom was telling the truth about wanting to fight Fu Manchu, or if it was actually part of his literal game of chess with the Prime Mover.
It’s still a good story, but it’s blatantly repeating the same basic plot of the Steranko story on Strange Tales. It’s still different enough because Shang-Chi, unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., actually does learn about Doom’s involvement.
IRON MAN #102
by Bill Mantlo & George Tuska
cover by George Perez
The cover doesn’t have Doctor Doom, but… come on. It’s Perez, I have to show it.
This is the origin story of minor Iron Man villain Dreaknight, a Latverian scientist called Bram Velsing.
Yes. “Bram Velsing”.
He makes the monumentally idiotic mistake of both boasting to be Doom’s equal AND making fun of his appearance.
Doom takes this rather personally, even going so far as to show Bram Velsing (*sigh*) his real face…
…and WELD A MASK TO HIS FACE.
He’s later nursed back to health by Victoria von Frankenstein.
Yes, she’s a descendant of Doctor Frankenstein.
Yes, the Frankenstein Monster actually appears in the story.
Yes, Dreadknight is really called Bram Velsing.
Yes, this comic is very stupid. It’s not anywhere near as cool as it sounds.
Oddly enough, I don’t think Dreadknight and Doom meet again.
THOR #121 (1978)
by Len Wein, Walt Simonson & Tony DeZuniga
This is a pretty forgettable story where Thor gets involved in a fight between S.H.I.E.L.D. and an artificial intelligence called F.A.U.S.T.
Think the acronym is lame? It stands for “Fully Automated Unit of Structural Technology”, which is even worse.
The story’s one redeeming quality is the nice art of early Walt Simonson.
Doom makes another single panel cameo, commenting the fight between S.H.I.E.L.D. and F.A.U.S.T.
I find it rather funny since Doom is basically saying “I have no idea what the heck is going on but I’m way too cool for this story”.
No sense discussing the usual “Silver Age-ness” and “Test of time” categories without a full review, but I’m integrating the various Doom counts when applicable.
Doom significance: 0/10
These cameos introduce the Prime Mover (who has only 2 additional appearances, one on his own and one with Doom) and Dreadknight (who Doom barely knows exists)… so they’re still skippable.
It was a Doombot all along
Obviously the Shang-Chi story is the only one where there’s explicitly a Doombot, but the real Doom probably still appears. All the others might has well have been Doombots for all we know.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 27
Adding Shang-Chi. He might’ve fought a Doombot, but Doom was behind everything.
Supervillains created by Doom: 7
It’s weird considering he’s never worked for him, but Doom is definitely responsible for Dreadknight being a villain.